A simple C++ library to help develop CLI tools easily and quickly by handling command-line args.
Have you ever had a good idea for a CLI tool? But, when it comes to developing it, you get bogged down dealing with the intricacies of dealing with command line options? If so, then, espresso can alleviate that overhead by taking care of command-line options, help and versioning output, automatic error checking and handling, thereby freeing you up to concentrate on solving your utility.
The key features are:
- A clear and simple API to define the arguments/switches your tool supports.
- Automatic parsing of the arglist and syntax checking to ensure the correct params are being provided.
- Provision of common default args, such as --help, --version, --info and --usage.
Whats included?
- libespresso - static C++ library
- header files - the espresso C++ header files
What platforms are supported?
- Windows 10 x64 (Visual C++ 2019)
- macOS (gcc)
Previously, the following platforms were supported for gcc. They haven't been exercised recently but there's every chance the makefile will still work.
- Solaris SunOS
- AIX
- HP-UX
- Red Hat Linux
The software was originally developed on Windows 32-bit environments but was successfully ported and deployed to Unix/Linux environments. Later, the code was successfully built for x64 environments without issue. While the makefile is primitive, it should still work for Unix/Linux environments. Most recently, it has been revised to build on macOS environments.
The original visual studio file were created Visual Studio 6.0 (which gives an indication as to the point when this 'tinkering' began) but were later ported to Visual Studio 2003, then Visual Studio 2005 and later Visual Studio 2008. There followed a fallow period before I again became re-acquainted with DevStudio using Visual Studio 2014 and then Visual Studio 2017. Most recently, I've ported to Visual Studio 2019.
The makefile is pretty trivial but works. Plans are afoot to adopt CMake.
Check out espresso tools for example code that uses Espresso lib. There is also a Developer Guide that mas more info on how to use the library to get you up and running quickly.
Finally, there's a blog where I try to capture thoughts on design as the solution evolves.
Donnacha Forde
January 2024